The Bacchus OSL 2009's topsy-turvy Ro16 now a distant memory (buried below intense SHL, MSL, and PL action), its Ro8 seems almost overdue. Suffer the suspense no longer: the Bacchus OSL 2009's quarterfinal round kicks off this Thursday (July 24) at 18:30 KST, but TL's coverage of it begins now!
The Bracket
Feast your eyes on the structure of the Bacchus OSL 2009's elimination stages:
This is a good opportunity to explain precisely how the OSL Ro8's bracket is determined (a topic I'll admit to being fuzzy on prior to writing this article). Eight players advance from the Ro16: one first-place finisher from each group (A, B, C, and D) and one second-place finisher from each group. The Ro8 bracket is then randomly generated subject to the following two constraints:
Each first-place finisher must face a second-place finisher in the Ro8.
Each side of the bracket must contain one player from each group.
This random generation is performed at a live drawing following the Ro16's conclusion. Zeus and Iloveoov conducted the Bacchus OSL 2009's drawing — ironic considering how unfriendly to Hite and T1 this bracket is.
Dark Age of Protoss
The Forces of Aiur stood tall in fall 2008: Stork finally claimed his first OSL title, GOM S2's final and the ClubDay MSL's quarterfinals (and final) were all Protoss versus Protoss, and the 6 Dragons ran amok in Proleague. The ClubDay MSL Finals' opening video, hyping Bisu vs. Jangbi, heralded the "Golden Age of Protoss":
An era past
If the StarCraft season before last was Protoss's Golden Age, this one is its Dark Age. BW's proudest race has fallen far over the first half of 2009, and this OSL's Ro8 is a brutal new low: because none of the Ro16's three Protosses survived his group, the Bacchus OSL 2009 is not only the first "modern OSL" (the first OSL since Daum restored the tournament's original format) without a Protoss quarterfinalist — it's the first without a Protoss semifinalist.
To watch an exclusively Terran and Zerg OSL Ro8 you'd have to take your wayback machine to the 1st ShinHan Bank OSL in spring 2006, when the OSL's elimination stages began with its Ro16 and calling Casy Neo Emperor was not a yet backhanded compliment. Yes, prior to this OSL, Protoss had been a staple of the OnGameNet Starleague's later stages for over three years.
So, what changed? Why have Protoss struggled so mightily in this OSL? Surprisingly, the answer is not floating in its map pool. Unlike the 1st ShinHan Bank OSL's maps, which included balance disasters Rush Hour 3 (8-24 PvT), Sin Pioneer Period (3-9 PvZ), and 815 III (13-22 PvZ), this OSL's maps look fairly balanced in PvX matchups. A Protoss bastion (such as Troy, Katrina, or Medusa) is notably absent, but so is a Protoss graveyard: other than Return of the King's PvT mark (10-16), every OSL map's PvX winrate stands between 40 and 60 percent. Even Holy World, with its wide open naturals, and Outsider, with its gas-happy expansion layout, have proven manageable for Protoss players. Though maps certainly haven't helped the forces of Aiur through this OSL, they cannot be the primary cause of Protoss's absence from this Ro8 — especially because Tosses are also struggling in the MSL.
Rather, the Dark Age of Protoss has a blindingly simple explanation: most of Brood War's top Protoss players have been playing like garbage lately, and they each pulled somewhat tough draws in this OSL. Best faced a Zerg in the Ro36, Kal and Bisu met Zero in his occasional ZvPgodmode, Stork fell to Fantasy's sick TvP, and both Jangbi and Free were upset in offlines (while on the verge of painful slumps).
Protoss's poor performance in the Bacchus OSL 2009 is remarkable, but we should be wary of attributing it to anything more significant than a confluence of cold streaks and difficult opponents. 2008's Golden Age has warped our impression of average Protoss success — it was the exception. Aiur's status quo is a unique reliance on just one or two elite players for representation on BW's biggest stages, and thus a unique vulnerability to complete absence from those stages. If not for Bisu, Stork, and Reach, EVER2007, Daum, EVER2005, EVER2004, and SKY 2 would join Bacchus 2009, IOPS, Olympus, and Panasonic as OSLs without a Protoss quarterfinalist. No OnGameNet Starleague Ro8 has been without a Zerg or Terran player.
Hite Fight!
Quick, get in touch with the civic minds at WeMade FOX! If Hite's sponsorship of the SPARKYZ wasn't enough to make every young adolescent in Korea a raging alcoholic, this OSL surely is — with the SPARKYZ claiming half its Ro8 berths, OGN will be giving Hite's logo plenty of airtime in the coming weeks.
Pictured above are the SPARKYZ's four quarterfinalists, reviewing Hite's master plan for pitching booze to 14-year-old girls their secrets to OSL success:
For Go.go: do not play Bisu straight up. Remember that BM is the source of your power!
For Type-b: don't practice ZvT — Fantasy will destroy you regardless. Instead, capitalize on your Protoss opponents' weak vZ.
For Yarnc: do not, under any circumstance, practice with your brother! To assure victory over Flash, choose a build that he must build turrets to survive. To have a shot at victory over Jaedong, pray that his grueling schedule has rendered him near-comatose.
Quarterfinal A Preview
YellOw[ArnC]go.go vs Career vT: 56-31 (64%) Career vZ: 10-10 (50%) Last 10 vT: 8-2 Last 10 vZ: 5-5
While Type-b and Leta can't be overjoyed at drawing a fellow SPARKY in the Ro8, they should at least be relieved to have avoided Yellow[arnc]. In his latest Weekly News Artosis picked Yarnc to win Hite's half of the OSL bracket, and I'm inclined to agree. With no Protoss to stand in his way and his best matchups (ZvT and ZvZ) looking more fearsome than ever, Yarnc is perfectly poised to continue his impressive performance in this OSL.
Yarnc's TvZ combines his brother's flair for strategic plays with impenetrably strong late-game management. Fake Yellow is an all-around master of this matchup, and as such I fully expect him to steamroll poor Go.go — who in this series will be lucky to build a command center at his own mineral-only, nevermind his opponent's natural.
Bottom line:YellOw[ArnC] 2-0. Go.go's TvZ is simply a cut below Yarnc's ZvT.
Quarterfinal B Preview
type-bLeta vs Career vT: 9-5 (64%) Career vZ: 29-14 (67%) Last 10 vT: 5-5 Last 10 vZ: 7-3
Though he is by far the most unaccomplished quarterfinalist and even (judging by Proleague lineup appearances) Hite's weakest Ro8 qualifier, Type-b is nevertheless a tough matchup for his teammate Leta. On paper Hite's ace is a prodigious Zerg slayer: he's ridden his wraith-happy TvZ to an 11-4 record against The Swarm this season, and two of those losses came to JD. However, Leta has a history of floundering in the metagame when facing crafty Zergs — see his proxy 8-rax against BW's most notoriously aggressive Zerg (who, naturally, opened 9-pool and hard countered for an easy win) or his most recent BoX series vs. Luxury, where he was completely outwitted in games 3and 5.
Type-b, like Kwanro and Lux, has a penchant for aggressive, low-econ strategies. If he can avoid straight-up games and instead test Leta's questionable ability to predict and counter unorthodox play, Type-b may be able to capitalize on Leta's ego-shattering failure in PL playoffs to gain an insurmountable mental advantage here.
Bottom Line: 2-0 Leta, barring any trickery from Type-b.
Quarterfinal C Preview
Canatafantasy vs Career vT: 36-28 (56%) Career vT: 22-16 (58%) Last 10 vT: 4-6 Last 10 vT: 7-3
StarCraft's bracket gods must have a vendetta with SK Telecom T1. Canata vs. Fantasy makes this the third consecutive OSL with a T1 vs. T1 quarterfinal match, and SKT fans will have to watch it with the bitter taste of Fantasy vs. Bisu's MSL Ro16 series lingering in our mouths (sigh, it's just so tough to root for a team that is consistently successful in Starleagues).
T1's in-house competitive dynamics are now exceedingly complex: Bisu eliminated Fantasy from the MSL, giving him more time to focus on this series than Canata, who after his Day 1 win at the MSL Ro16 said he "gained a lot by watching Fantasy", who must now regret letting Canata look over his shoulder in the T1 practice room. Observing Fantasy's games may have helped Canata cruise past Piano in the MSL, but shouldn't be enough to topple Fantasy himself. Oov's prodigy remains StarCraft's best all-around Terran player, and here he will use his seemingly-innate understanding of the game to assert his position atop T1's Terran hierarchy.
Bottom Line:fantasy, 2-1. Canata's TvT looks sharper than ever, but he is outmatched (and will be out-practiced) here.
Quarterfinal D Preview
ZerOJaedong vs Career vZ: 30-31 (49%) Career vZ: 76-20 (79%) Last 10 vZ: 3-7 Last 10 vZ: 6-4
I have been eagerly awaiting this matchup ever since Zero's ZvZ impressed me on his Lost Saga MSL semifinal run (2>1 Yarnc in the Ro16, 3>1 Savior in the Ro8). Though Zero's Lost Saga MSL hopes ended with a pitiful 0-3 loss to Luxury and he's currently on a painful string of vZ losses (OversKy, Kwanro, and, on June 22 Jaedong himself), he is still easily capable of challenging the Legend Killer's inhuman ZvZ. More than any other Ro8 qualifier, Zero's potential is tied to his mental condition — and, at eight of his last nine against a host of tough opponents, he is playing with determination, confidence, and flair.
More significantly, though, Jaedong is coming off of an 0-2 defeat in GOM that made his ZvZ look vulnerable for the first time since he fell to July at WCG Korea 2007. Effort simply outplayed JD — even beating him with 9-pool, a build Jaedong said he never loses to in practice. However, Zero is no Effort, and Jaedong's GOM quarters loss is thus an obviously weak basis for doubting his status as the favorite in this series. JD has an uncanny ability to recover quickly from unlikely defeats, and with a Golden Mouse now just eight wins away he is sure to combine that ability with rigorous practice to remain, in Zero's words, "the ultimate boss of ZvZ".
Bottom line:Jaedong in three, but a surprisingly strong performance from Zero.
One More Thing:
GTR has put together a nifty list of OSL and MSL Finals venues (memorize it to whip your buddies at eSports trivia).
COEX Convention Hall in Seoul, site of the Incruit OSL Finals
As forum-goers and VOD-watchers, it's easy to feel removed from StarCraft as a stadium-packing spectator event. For the average foreign fan, all professional BW matches are framed by YouTube's familiar layout. For Korean SC enthusiasts, however, each match is framed by its particular venue, banners, and fans. These circumstances are often meaningful — for example, Firebathero's victory dip at the 2008 Proleague Grand Final wouldn't have been possible anywhere but the beach, and as "a Pusan man" Fantasy benefited from a friendly crowd at the Batoo OSL Finals.
Get hyped: the Bacchus OSL 2009's conclusion will coincide with not only the later stages of GOM S3 and the Avalon MSL, but the long-awaited 08-09 Proleague playoffs. Sorry this writeup was a bit on the longer side (there's plenty to talk about here), and see you in LR threads!
On July 22 2009 10:22 appe wrote: Wouldn't suprise me if YarnC reached the final, or even won the whole thing.
I totally agree — he's been playing really well lately against super tough opponents. I expect him to make the finals, but JD or Fantasy would be more than a match for him there.
No Protoss remaining makes me think that this OSL is Yarnc's big chance, and I bet he feels the same way.
Is it just me or do people predict a BoX series to be closer than it normally is? Surprisingly strong performances are the exception, not the norm. I predict all 2-0s.
but seriously yarnc has always been rumored to be better than lux. His nickname (muta controller) is really fitting and when he gets goin on you its really hard to stop him.
but I still think/want fantasy to take the whole thing. when i watch him play it seems like he breaks the game with waht he pulls off.
I don't want to spark the fires of debate, but could the P slump have more to do with the none of the maps being P favored as they were when it was the Golden Age?
I think most people do concede that P is the overall weakest race at the highest level. If we accept this and accept the fact that no P is doing well when the maps aren't P tilted, then we can easily understand their absence.
On July 22 2009 10:51 sk` wrote: I don't want to spark the fires of debate, but could the P slump have more to do with the none of the maps being P favored as they were when it was the Golden Age?
I think most people do concede that P is the overall weakest race at the highest level. If we accept this and accept the fact that no P is doing well when the maps aren't P tilted, then we can easily understand their absence.
O_o .... ... isn't this exactly what JWD said in the article?
Anyways, great job JWD very good read
Although imho your SKT fanboyism was a little too obvious ... you don't mention once how it's unlucky that all 4 hite players only face their team mates and then the very first sentence of fantasy vs canata is how the bracket gods hate SKT ^^ And don't come with any "well at least 2 of them advance" bs
I absolutely love this article, the pictures are especially great. Thanks for the insight. Hopefully the good ol' toss will put up a better fight next year.
On July 22 2009 10:51 sk` wrote: I don't want to spark the fires of debate, but could the P slump have more to do with the none of the maps being P favored as they were when it was the Golden Age?
I think most people do concede that P is the overall weakest race at the highest level. If we accept this and accept the fact that no P is doing well when the maps aren't P tilted, then we can easily understand their absence.
O_o .... ... isn't this exactly what JWD said in the article?
Not exactly. What I said is that Protoss's recent struggles don't have much to do with map balance, but rather a dropoff in the performances of its top players (the 6 Dragons). What sk` is proposing is that Protoss's recent struggles do have to do with maps — not that they're imbalanced against Protoss, but that they are now simply not imbalanced in favor of Protoss (in 2008 there were many Protoss-favored maps).
sk I think yours is a pretty good theory and it probably explains some of the Protoss slump, but I think the main problem with it is that, if favorable maps were the main cause of the Golden Age of Protoss, we would have seen tons of up-and-coming Protoss players thriving (as well as the best Protosses). Basically, since maps impact all players equally, we would expect all Protosses to have performed well. But this wasn't really the case — instead, we just watched the same few Protoss players do extremely well in Starleagues, while A- and B-class Protosses continued to be mediocre. This makes me think that the Golden Age of Protoss (and thus Protoss's current troubles) is mostly related to the relative skill of its top players.
I really want to see fantasy/JD taking this OSL. fantasy finally winning the osl after 2 straight 2-3 defeats. Or JD becoming the 3rd player to win the golden mouse and the 1st person to win the OSL back-to-back since boxer :O
the biggest problem with the former dragons IMO is that all of them except for Bisu are suddenly horrible at PvZ (especially Kal and Free). Not to mention that Best is doing horrible in PvP lately too.
On July 22 2009 11:27 hiro protagonist wrote: Hmmm... do you really think Leta is cheating JWD? or was that some clever sarcasm for debate? If the later, well done at sucking me in.
Obviously there's no way to prove that his wandering eyes are an intentional attempt to get some useful information from the audience...I was just joking around.
That said, I do think Leta's eyes move around an inordinate amount in some VODs...
i got to go with zero canata leta and Yellow[ArnC] i think Canata's got a few good tricks that will be a surprise. Of course Leta and Yellow are dominant. I just think Zero is on top of his game. It's going to be a great series.
On July 22 2009 12:10 SilverSkyLark wrote: If Jaedong loses.........I bet there will be less people watching the finals.
Yup true indeed. I'm actually looking more forward to a possible Fantasy/Jaedong semis, which would be more interesting than whatever the finals has in store for us.
Great writeup, although I don't think these brackets hurt OGN at all since this way they can guarantee an OGN finalist *cough Leta cough.
Imagine if you will that the OSL round of 8 brackets looked like this:
Yarnc------------------------------------------------------------ GoGo Fantasy ------------------------------------------------------------ Canata
Zero ------------------------------------------------------------ Jaedong Type B ------------------------------------------------------------ Leta
I wouldn't favor an OGN player in any of these matchups. My conclusion is that OGN benefits from having domination of the left side of the bracket. Hell, when was the last time they even had a silver medalist anyways?
shed a tear, light a candle, pay omage, bow your head and a moment of silence for our brave-fallen Protoss stalwart warriors who were vanquished and eliminated from this tourmanent. For it is now a slightly more dismal and depressing tournament, w/ no fancy-ful or omniscent, magically or unique chances for brilliant strategic rush/open strategy like DT drops or masterful sair/rvr control etc.
On July 22 2009 11:27 hiro protagonist wrote: Hmmm... do you really think Leta is cheating JWD? or was that some clever sarcasm for debate? If the later, well done at sucking me in.
Obviously there's no way to prove that his wandering eyes are an intentional attempt to get some useful information from the audience...I was just joking around.
That said, I do think Leta's eyes move around an inordinate amount in some VODs...
Also Artosis mentioned in his weekly news recently, that Leta is known for cheating, ofcourse there is no direct evidence, but he heard this from several coaches and players
Oh my god if Fantasy get's second place again I am going to cry myself to sleep. Looks like his only obstacle at the moment is Jaedong. No zerg except Jaedong can keep up with his wacky Bo5 style and he is 3-0 vs Leta.
i think jaedong will crush fantasy this time around, that is if he gets to play him. EffOrt is definitely jaedongs biggest challenge, as EffOrt showed in gom that he can out psychology jaedong with build orders pretty easily. I dont think yarnc has a good chance because he has to beat either jaedong or effOrt, and i dont think he will do that in a series, although there is always a chance.
As for the protoss slump...meh, all i can say is quit slacking protoss progamers.
Another interesting fact is that many programmers do believe zerg is the best race if all races are played perfectly. I guess playing perfectly is impossible though hehe.
On July 22 2009 10:57 7mk wrote: you don't mention once how it's unlucky that all 4 hite players only face their team mates and then the very first sentence of fantasy vs canata is how the bracket gods hate SKT ^^
On July 22 2009 10:10 JWD wrote: This random generation is performed at a live drawing following the Ro16's conclusion. Zeus and Iloveoov conducted the Bacchus OSL 2009's drawing — ironic considering how unfriendly to Hite and T1 this bracket is.
And come on, if you read past my line about T1 and the bracket gods you'll see that it wasn't based on this OSL's bracket alone...
the Bacchus OSL 2009 is not only the first "modern OSL" (the first OSL since Daum restored the tournament's original format) without a Protoss quarterfinalist — it's the first without a Protoss semifinalist.
Wait, I don't get this. Quarterfinals are before the semifinals. Wouldn't it be reversed then? "without a Protoss semifinalist - it's the first without a Protoss quarterfinalist."
Oh nvm, I get it. It means every previous OSL has had a protoss make it to semi-finals, and THIS one in particular no one has made it to the quarters. Ignore me.
the Bacchus OSL 2009 is not only the first "modern OSL" (the first OSL since Daum restored the tournament's original format) without a Protoss quarterfinalist — it's the first without a Protoss semifinalist.
Wait, I don't get this. Quarterfinals are before the semifinals. Wouldn't it be reversed then? "without a Protoss semifinalist - it's the first without a Protoss quarterfinalist."
Oh nvm, I get it. It means every previous OSL has had a protoss make it to semi-finals, and THIS one in particular no one has made it to the quarters. Ignore me.
i was confused as well. i read it like 8x and even doubted my knowledge of what semis and quarterfinals were. it's really late
the Bacchus OSL 2009 is not only the first "modern OSL" (the first OSL since Daum restored the tournament's original format) without a Protoss quarterfinalist — it's the first without a Protoss semifinalist.
Wait, I don't get this. Quarterfinals are before the semifinals. Wouldn't it be reversed then? "without a Protoss semifinalist - it's the first without a Protoss quarterfinalist."
Nice writeup, but this ro8 looks really weak. The only players who ever were in a final befor are Jaedong and Fanta. Ppl like gogo, type-b and canata in the Ro-8? C'mon what a shame. If JD does not take this i will be pissed. The 2 zergs and the 2 Terrans still could give trouble to him but still, JD is the heavy favorite
On July 22 2009 10:57 7mk wrote: you don't mention once how it's unlucky that all 4 hite players only face their team mates and then the very first sentence of fantasy vs canata is how the bracket gods hate SKT ^^
On July 22 2009 10:10 JWD wrote: This random generation is performed at a live drawing following the Ro16's conclusion. Zeus and Iloveoov conducted the Bacchus OSL 2009's drawing — ironic considering how unfriendly to Hite and T1 this bracket is.
And come on, if you read past my line about T1 and the bracket gods you'll see that it wasn't based on this OSL's bracket alone...
I had read the whole thing but it was 4 AM in germany and I overlooked a few sentences, like the one you quoted, as well as this one:
On July 22 2009 10:10 JWD wrote: sigh, it's just so tough to root for a team that is consistently successful in Starleagues).
JWD: I don't think it is accurate to compare A-/B+ players with pros. Either way, you DID actually have a larger Protoss uprising if we use your model - you had 6 Dragons. Even when T or Z are rampaging you don't see 6 dominant players in the same time span.
Actually, I take that back. go.go is going to take the title. He's going to bunker rush twice against Yarnc. If Leta advances, go.go is going to float his CC and suicide his SCV's against each other and when Leta sees that he has nothing, he'll type something cause he thought go.go hacked and Kespa will DQ him for typing. Against JD in the final, he's going to talk to him the night before and continue talking to him until JD turns fatigue. JD will lose the finals due to lack of sleep. So there you have it. Your next OSL Champion is go.go!!!
On July 22 2009 10:22 appe wrote: Wouldn't suprise me if YarnC reached the final, or even won the whole thing.
I totally agree — he's been playing really well lately against super tough opponents. I expect him to make the finals, but JD or Fantasy would be more than a match for him there.
No Protoss remaining makes me think that this OSL is Yarnc's big chance, and I bet he feels the same way.
Yarnc would be a harder opponent than JD for Fantasy. In fact, right now the only worse opponent for a T would be Flash (just going by elo). Even going off of their games, I think this. Yarnc's weird opening builds would be much harder for Fantasy to adapt to. (Who else but yarnc would ever have opened 12 pool in zvt vs Flash?). I think yarnc is at his best vs mech, as well.
I dont know why TL has such a huge grudge against the protoss. whenever protoss wins everyone complains about maps, or race imbalances. but just a few months later when protoss losses its just because they played bad, no discussion of imbalances or possible map favoritism. zerg has an advantage over protoss, its not a giant advantage but its still there, and that is a big reason for this protoss cold streak.
On July 23 2009 01:33 Postaljester wrote: just a few months later when protoss losses its just because they played bad, no discussion of imbalances or possible map favoritism.
I don't think you read my article (or even its comments).
Nice writeup, I think Yarnc's got this one in the bag if he can avoid facing Jaedong in the finals. Of course he'll probably fall into a career-ending slump after he wins, but it would be worth it I guess.
Don't hold me to this, but I have a feeling Leta is going to fall victim to the teammate snipe. He goes 2 port wraith so frequently that I worry about his proficiency in a straight up game, and as we've seen in his game against Kwanro in this OSL and Luxury last MSL he can be very vulnerable to risky early game play and sneaky tech switches. I'm sure type-b has gone up against Leta's pre-prepared TvZ builds hundreds of times in practice, but as he hasn't been in a major best-of series in recent history, Leta has the disadvantage of not knowing exactly what type-b may throw at him.
One thing I still don't understand is that after all this time people still revere Canata's TvT as "Top Class," when he hasn't been anywhere near a level needed to compete with the Flash and fantasy's for well over a year. Sure, he knows how to stretch a game out into a spectacular clusterfuck of tanks and bcs, but just look at the results - he isn't getting it done. fantasy is going to pulverize him, straight up.
On July 23 2009 09:20 p4NDemik wrote: Don't hold me to this, but I have a feeling Leta is going to fall victim to the teammate snipe. He goes 2 port wraith so frequently that I worry about his proficiency in a straight up game, and as we've seen in his game against Kwanro in this OSL and Luxury last MSL he can be very vulnerable to risky early game play and sneaky tech switches. I'm sure type-b has gone up against Leta's pre-prepared TvZ builds hundreds of times in practice, but as he hasn't been in a major best-of series in recent history, Leta has the disadvantage of not knowing exactly what type-b may throw at him.
One thing I still don't understand is that after all this time people still revere Canata's TvT as "Top Class," when he hasn't been anywhere near a level needed to compete with the Flash and fantasy's for well over a year. Sure, he knows how to stretch a game out into a spectacular clusterfuck of tanks and bcs, but just look at the results - he isn't getting it done. fantasy is going to pulverize him, straight up.
didnt leta go 2port wraith vs yanrc in the racewars thing and still win?
On July 23 2009 09:20 p4NDemik wrote: One thing I still don't understand is that after all this time people still revere Canata's TvT as "Top Class," when he hasn't been anywhere near a level needed to compete with the Flash and fantasy's for well over a year. Sure, he knows how to stretch a game out into a spectacular clusterfuck of tanks and bcs, but just look at the results - he isn't getting it done. fantasy is going to pulverize him, straight up.
OK, let's look at the results. First off, trying to evaluate Canata's level of play by looking at games from last season is pretty pointless considering how much better he has been playing in this one. Canata now is almost a completely different player than Canata five months ago. So, beginning with this SC season (PL R4/5, Avalon MSL and qualifiers, Bacchus OSL and qualifiers): Canata is 6-5 in TvT — a pretty underwhelming mark, right? But hold up a second...check out his opponents. His losses are to Leta (in a really, really close game), Flash, Up once (in a series he won 2-1), and BaBy once in PL. His wins are sKyHigh twice (damn impressive considering sKyHigh's recent TvT feats), Up twice, and Piano twice. I've watched each of his games vs. Up and Piano, and they were all very solid wins. His most recent TvTs, in the MSL Ro16, were almost slaughters. The kid can play this matchup. All it takes is one watch of his OSL Ro16 game against Leta to realize that the statement "he hasn't been anywhere near a level needed to compete with Flash and Fantasy for over a year" is complete baloney.
He's a mid-level TvTer right now imo, and his recent record reflects it. We can cherry pick games for any player out there and make their matchups seem stronger for the case of argument. But really, he's right there with Iris, go.go, Hwasin, et al. fantasy is S-Class, little doubt about that. Canata might take the series to 1-2, just seeing as it's a teammate match, but I don't see him winning it, and odds are he'll lose 0-2.
So long as the finals is not a mirror matchup I'll be happy. The last thing I want is a 1 hour long final for a ZvZ or a 5 hour (w/o commercials) TvT fest, but that's just my opinion.
Either a Leta v. Jaedong (Though there is concern for Leta's ability to play straight up) or Type-B v. Fantasy Final (Royal Road? Can he do it!?) will be interesting for me.
On July 23 2009 11:28 Apex wrote: So long as the finals is not a mirror matchup I'll be happy. The last thing I want is a 1 hour long final for a ZvZ or a 5 hour (w/o commercials) TvT fest, but that's just my opinion.
Either a Leta v. Jaedong (Though there is concern for Leta's ability to play straight up) or Type-B v. Fantasy Final (Royal Road? Can he do it!?) will be interesting for me.
I'd love to see an hour long ZvZ. Five of em in a row, each epic, with queens and defilers and maybe even the odd lurker or two.
No, no you don't, not when 45 minutes of each game is just each player pussyfooting around doing nothing while massing units, which is usually what a long ZvZ consists of. I'd like a long game or two in that hypothetical situation, but 5 would just be stupid, as well as improbable.
Great article! I Have a strong feeling Yarnc might take this, his ZvT is beastly he is 15-2 (!!) this year, and with luck Terran is all he will face. At any rate this is probably the only chance he will ever get to tie his twin.
I attribute lack of P success to the multitude of Z>P maps recently, look at the stats for the PL maps from the last round and you will see they are all Z>P except for Outsider and Destination. Too many maps that allow for easy drops in the main (GG, Neo Medusa, HBR) that stop P from moving out while Z takes the map.
All I have to say that this title is incorrect when we are talking about low to mid skill players tosses get it easy.. Anyhow its nice to see that other races smash toss at ubergosu lvls. So sweet!
me too, i especially hope that there are as few terran mirrors as possible. i like them, kinda. but when it gets to the time when everyone is dropping everywhere and each player has one half of the map its disgustingly boring
On July 22 2009 10:34 TwoStep wrote: Is it just me or do people predict a BoX series to be closer than it normally is? Surprisingly strong performances are the exception, not the norm. I predict all 2-0s.
I usually predict calls like 2-0, 3-0 in everything. To me it seems that if it is a close match in skill there will a clean sweep in the series (im not sure if this is going to make sense) Since the players know the other is equivelent to their skill they practice harder and therefore one will wind up on top completely. IE JD versus Flash in Gom2, Flash versus Stork 3-2, was close but stork took 2-0 lead then pissed it away. And then there was Bisu. When the skill gap is bigger then someone gets underestimated and winds up pulling out a win or 2.
EPT![[image loading]](/staff/Daigomi/Banner__BacchusOSL__v1h.jpg)
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YellOw[ArnC] 2-0. Go.go's TvZ is simply a cut below Yarnc's ZvT.![[image loading]](/staff/JWD/bacchus_osl_s2/4_5.jpg)
Leta, barring any trickery from Type-b.![[image loading]](/staff/JWD/bacchus_osl_s2/4_7.jpg)
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